Professor Carolyn Rose

Carolyn Penstein Rose is an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment between the Language Technologies Institute and the Human-Computer Interaction Institute. In that role, she leads several research projects in the area of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning and teaches courses in machine learning, discourse analysis, automatic summarization, computer supported collaborative learning, and research communication.

Dr. Rose's research group works towards advancing language technologies for use in supporting online collaboration. One of the major cross-cutting themes of her work is identification of conversational constructs that predict important group learning outcomes such as learning, identification, motivation and relationship formation. Several projects focus on development of technology for automatic analysis of conversational data as well as development of tool benches that put this technology in the hands of other researchers. One of the most exciting developments has been the effective adaptation of tutorial dialogue technology for the purpose of improving online collaboration. Results from numerous studies in a variety of learning domains show statistically significant improvements in student learning, exchange of help, productivity in brainstorming, and improvement of social climate using this technology.

As a faculty member here, she is strongly interdisciplinary and actively involved in an international network of researchers in the fields of Language Technologies, Sociolinguistics, Education, Health, and Psychology. It is her strong desire to see her research in computer supported collaborative learning make an impact in the world. To this end she is involved in efforts that have a clear path towards impacting students around the world and transforming how they learn on-line through discussion, including partnerships with The Math Forum, a major university based math service reaching millions of students each year, and dissemination through Worth Publishing's Psychology Portal, which is packaged with our country's most popular undergraduate psychology textbook.

Beyond her research, Dr. Rose is pursuing her mission through spearheading The Internship Program for Technology Supported Education, which is a partnership between faculty at the International Institute for Information Technology in Hyderabad (IIIT-H) and the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The goal is to reach out particularly to 3rd year undergraduates at Indian institutions, to expose them to research, and to start mentoring relationships with the students, and ultimately research partnerships with faculty at their home institutions.

Professor Jennifer Mankoff

seeing how the reality of ongoing, real world use deepens the practice of HCI

One of the most exciting developments in HCI recently is the increasing ubiquity of mobile sensing and interactivity platforms such as the iPhone, the iPad, the android platform, and most recently the kinect. Suddenly research ideas that could only be tested in carefully constructed environments can play out in the real world, across many different settings and cultures.

At the same time, as the ubiquity of computing grows and the lifespans of devices shorten, computing has to start to deal with larger issues such as sustainability that previously were not on the radar. I am looking forward to seeing how the reality of ongoing, real world use deepens the practice of HCI in unexpected ways. I believe that applications research (healthcare, sustainability, and so on) will become increasingly important as it is human needs and wants rather than device limitations that we bump up against in our work with technology.

Gabriela Marcu

I chose HCI because I've always been more interested in how people use technology, and what impact technology has on people, than the technology itself.

My research combines computer science with social science to explore how technology can support the treatment and management of chronic disorders - for example, by monitoring a patient's behavior and state, connecting patients for peer support, or strengthening the collaboration between patients, clinicians, and caregivers. I'm excited about the growing impact of HCI on healthcare, particularly with regard to patient empowerment and well-being.

Kerry Chang

understanding of human is essential to developing new technologies

authoring toolsuser interface

I picked HCI because I believe the understanding of human is essential to developing new technologies. I like to interact with people and understand what they need. My current research focuses on making programming easier and more intuitive for everyday computer users through designing and building authoring tools.

Ruth Wylie

I picked HCI because it's brings together a unique blend of computer science, psychology and design that enables me to solve real-world problems. My research is on designing computer-based tutoring systems to help people learn English as a second language.

Ruogu Kang

my enthusiasm for this area has never decreased

CSCWcomputer supported cooperative work

I have been doing HCI research since an undergraduate. My enthusiasm for this area has never decreased. The interdisciplinary nature of HCI is most appealing to me. HCII provides me with all kinds of resources for learning advanced knowledge, working with top-tier professionals, and being exposed to the latest news and technology in area.

Haiyi Zhu

Throughout undergraduate and graduate school, I evolved my major from mathematics to computer science and finally to human computer interaction.

I spent my first two years of college in the Academic Talented Program at Tsinghua University, which aims to cultivate top researchers in Mathematics and Physics. However, I found myself more interested in solving real world problems, so I transferred to the department of computer science. I spent two years to get computer science bachelor's degree with highest honors, but I realized that I am more interested in the phenomena surrounding computers than the theory or design of computers themselves. I am especially interested in how computer technology facilitates large-scale human interactions. That is why I come here - HCII. Now, my research is to investigate how people interact with one another in online communities such as Wikipedia and Facebook. My current research topics include group goal setting and distributed leadership in Wikipedia.

Professor Roberta Klatzky

My research areas are perceptually guided action, haptic perception (touch), and spatial cognition (thinking about space). I emphasize that we perceive the world through multiple senses, that perception interacts with thinking, and that what we perceive -- rightly or wrongly -- is the basis for how we act on our environment. My research has been applied to tele-manipulation, image-guided surgery, and navigation aids for the blind.

The most exciting development in my field over the past 10 years is the profound appreciation that perception is multi-modal; that different sensory systems and conceptual knowledge interact to determine what we know about the world through our senses. This has been played out in behavioral and brain studies.

What I am most eager to see in the future of HCI is a more robust theoretical grounding for empirical studies and applications.

Julia Schwarz

I've always been interested in organizing and understanding complex systems. To me, the goal of HCI is to make it easier for people to understand and interact with computers. I picked HCI because I enjoy turning the complex systems behind computers into something people can understand. I have two research interests—coming up with interaction techniques, and developing new input handling systems.

My current research project aims to design a better framework for handling uncertain user input. The most exciting development in the last 10 years is the inexpensive 3D sensing that the recently released kinect enables because it opens up a completely untapped new set of interactions and interfaces. In the future I'm looking forward to seeing how computers will further dissolve into our lives, and how all our information will become universally accessible wherever we are through these ubiquitous computers thanks to cloud storage.

Tawanna Dillahunt

I chose HCI because of its interdisciplinary nature. I've always had an interest in technology but later became interested in social and behavioral psychology while pursuing my undergraduate degree. My specific interests were to understand how technology could be used to encourage positive behaviors. For example, can we use technology to encourage healthy lifestyles, sustainability, etc.?

My research area has to do with understanding how social and ubiquitous technologies can be used to motivate and to encourage positive behaviors, specifically in the context of environmental sustainability. I am most excited about the role HCI will play in the continual pervasion of technology in our day-to-day lives.

Chloe Fan

When I first heard about HCI, I thought that it was the perfect way to combine my Media Arts & Sciences and Psychology double major from Wellesley College. I'm currently doing research in the area of public spaces, behavior change, and engagement. I think the most exciting development in this area over the last decade is the release of Microsoft Kinect, which can change the way we interact with technology in public spaces.

Jennifer Marlow

When I "discovered" HCI, it seemed like a perfect fit between my interests in psychology/behavioral science and technology. Working in the field of CSCW, I'm interested in learning more about how we can improve the experience for members of distributed teams working across geographical boundaries and cultures.

Rebecca Gulotta

I love conducting research and building things

assistive technologyinformation accessibility

I picked HCI because it was a way for me to study computer science, psychology, and design. I love conducting research and building things and HCI provides me with the opportunity to do both. Every research project is an opportunity to learn about something new and to work with people who are passionate about what they do and who I can learn from. I am excited by the potential for technology to change the way people interact with the world around them, and by the opportunity to contribute to this work.